MISSIONARY  CONSECRATION 

OF  PASTORS. 


A  PAPER 

READ  AT  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  AT  HARTFORD, 

OCTOBER  4,  1876. 


BY 

Rev.  S.  B.  TREAT, 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  BOARD. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

at  tfte 

1876. 


MISSIONARY  CONSECRATION  OF  PASTORS. 


- ♦  . .  — 

Those  who  attended  the  annual  meeting  at  Rutland,  in  1874,  will  re¬ 
member  that  $400,000  were  deemed  a  fitting  sum  to  ask  of  the  Congrega¬ 
tional  churches,  year  by  year ;  and  it  was  hoped  that  other  sources  of 
income  would  yield  $100,000  more.  Our  financial  history  since  that  time 
has  shown  —  (1)  that  in  order  to  the  highest  missionary  results,  we  need 
more  than  $500,000;  (2)  that  our  churches  have  failed  as  yet  to  contribute 
$400,000  a  year ;  and,  further,  that  the  other  sources  yielded  during  the 
past  year  less  than  $83,000. 

The  Committee  have  no  evidence  that  our  constituency,  as  a  whole, 
regards  an  expenditure  of  $500,000  as  too  large.  On  the  contrary,  they 
have  abundant  evidence  that  many  are  strongly  opposed  to  a  lower  scale. 
Hence  they  feel  compelled  to  ask,  “  How  shall  the  increasing  demands  of 
the  missions  be  met?  ”  Here,  in  a  region  so  rich  in  Puritan  memories,  in 
a  population  as  intelligent  as  it  is  prosperous  ;  here,  looking  out  upon  the 
wide  and  fruitful  fields  which  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  has  invited  us  to 
occupy,  they  submit  the  inquiry. 

Various  answers  may  be  given  ;  but  one,  in  their  judgment,  takes  pre¬ 
cedence  of  all  others,  to  wit,  “  In  order  to  our  reaching  that  high  plane 
whereunto  we  are  called,  a  heartfelt  consecration  to  the  missionary  work, 
on  the  part  of  pastors,  is  indispensable” 

The  commission  which  these  brethren  have  received  is  as  broad  as  it  is 
weighty.  They  are  ambassadors  to  lost  men;  they  are  teachers  of  the 
way  of  life;  they  are  leaders  and  guides  for  all  intrusted  to  their  care. 
With  more  comprehensiveness  it  may  be  said,  “  They  are  to  do  for,  loith, 
and  through  their  congregations,  whatever  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  prescribes.  , 
What,  then,  does  He  wish  them  to  do  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world  ? 

Permit  us  to  isolate  one  of  the  many  pastors  whom  we  are  happy  to  meet 
here  at  this  time,  and  to  address  him  personally. 

Dear  brother  in  Christ,  our  fellow-worker  unto  the  kingdom  of  God  ! 
Let  us  suppose  your  Saviour,  in  some  favored  moment,  to  enter  your  study, 
and  sit  down  by  your  side.  He  opens  to  your  wondering  vision  his  infinite 
pity  for  our  race.  To  do  this  the  more  surely,  he  takes  you  back  to  the 
dawn  of  eternity,  and  by  some  mysterious  process  he  shows  you  the  Father, 
the  Comforter,  and  the  uncreated  Word,  three  yet  one,  pondering  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  human  redemption.  They  study  it  in  all  its  vastness,  in  all  its 
relations  and  interrelations,  not  in  one  cycle,  but  in  all  cycles.  He  permits 
you  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  that  love  which  is  so  far  above  and  beyond  all 
finite  thought.  You  are  not  startled,  therefore,  you  are  hardly  surprised, 
when  the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Father  surrenders  himself  with  a  conse¬ 
cration,  which  none  besides  could  have  made,  to  this  great  endeavor. 


4 


MISSIONARY  CONSECRATION  OE  PASTORS. 


He  shows  you  the  joy  that  is  set  before  him,  (1)  in  transforming  the  poor 
lost  ones  of  earth  into  the  cliildren  of  the  Highest,  so  raising  them  to  the 
fellowship  of  angels  and  archangels,  so  making  them  heirs  with  himself  to 
that  inheritance  which  the  Father  has  enriched  with  all  the  wealth  of  the 
universe  ;  (2)  in  quickening  and  intensifying  the  love,  the  wonder,  the 
ecstasy  of  the  heavenly  host,  not  merely  because  of  the  ever-increasing 
number  of  the  saved,  but  because  of  the  resources,  multiform  and  exhaust¬ 
less,  whereby  the  wisdom  of  God  has  achieved  its  measureless  results  ; 
(3)  in  illustrating  the  silent,  harmonious  co-working  of  all  the  divine  per¬ 
fections,  so  that  justice  and  mercy  are  seen  to  walk  hand  in  hand,  each 
more  resplendent  because  of  this  fraternal  companionship;  (4)  in  founding 
a  kingdom  greater  than  all  other  kingdoms,  upholding,  defending,  encir- 
clinoc  all  other  kincrdoms.  He  to  wear  the  crown  alone.  He  to  collect  and 
concentrate  the  brightness  of  all  the  diadems  of  earth,  and  place  it  upon 
his  own  imperial  brow. 

Now  he  transports  you  to  scenes  which  lie  far  down  the  stream  of  time. 
Y’ou  become  the  friend  and  daily  attendant  of  the  Son  of  Mary.  You  see 
all  that  he  suffered  from  the  contradiction  of  sinners,  as  also  from  his 
hourly  contact  with  them.  Y^ou  are  with  him  in  Gethsemane.  You  follow 
him  to  the  cross.  Y^ou  listen  to  that  cry,  piercing,  heartrending,  beyond 
all  that  this  world  has  heard  till  now,  “  Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  V” 
With  the  two  Marys  you  go  to  the  sepulchre  and  share  in  their  “  great 
joy,”  in  that  he  did  not  see  corruption.  Y’ou  stand  with  the  eleven  on  the 
mountain  in  Galilee,  and  hear  that  commission,  “  Go,”  “  disciple  all  na¬ 
tions.”  Bewildered  as  you  have  been  all  along,  you  are  more  bewildered 
now  than  ever.  “  Can  it  be?  ”  you  ask.  “  The  First  Born  of  every  crea¬ 
ture  !  Has  he  tendered  to  his  people  a  partnership  of  love  and  service  in 
this  life,  and  in  the  life  to  come  a  partnershq)  of  transcendent  honor  and 
blessedness  V  ”  Y’ou  look  back  from  the  supremest  moment  in  our  lower 
annals  to  the  supremest  moment  in  the  heavenly  annals,  and  you  say, 
“  Y'^onder,  where  I  saw  it,  redemption  was  devised.  At  Calvary,  where 
I  saw  it,  redemption  was  achieved.  Henceforth  it  is  to  be  redemption 
wrought  out,  instrumentally,  by  those  who  have  themselves  felt  its  trans¬ 
forming  might,  ‘  to  the  intent  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers 
in  heavenly  places  might  be  known  by  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom  of 
God.’  ” 

You  stand  by  his  side  once  more  on  the  eastern  slope  of  Olivet.  It  is 
the  last  time  ;  you  know  it,  —  all  know  it.  Once  more  you  hear  his  chief 
commission.  In  token  of  its  unspeakable  urgency,  in  token  of  its  central 
place  in  the  scheme  of  redemption  as  seen  from  its  earthly  side,  it  receives 
its  third,  its  final  announcement,  “  Ye  shall  be  witnesses  ”  “  unto  the  utter¬ 
most  part  of  the  earth.”  “And  when  he  had  spoken  these  things,”  “he 
was  taken  up,  and  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  your  sight.” 

Y’^ou  that  represent  the  pastoral  office  here  to-day  !  Y^ou  will  never  be 
honored  by  such  glimpses  of  the  divine  plan  as  seen  from  its  heavenly 
side.  Never  in  his  human  form  will  Immanuel  sit  down  by  your  side,  and 
disclose  the  affluence  of  his  grace.  But  if,  burdened  with  the  thought  of 
his  infinite  love  for  the  lost,  yourselves  among  them,  you  say  to  him. 


MISSIONARY  CONSECRATION  OF  PASTORS. 


5 


“  Lord,  wliat  ^vilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  ”  be  sure  that  light  will  arise  in  the 
darkness.  If  you  desire  a  consecration  to  his  service,  as  a  world  service, 
that  shall  please  him,  be  sure  that  you  will  receive  the  “  promise  of  the 
Father.” 

But  when,  dear  brethren,  you  shall  have  reached  this  higher  level  of 
Christian  purpose,  certain  problems  may  present  themselves,  toward  the 
solution  of  which  a  few  suggestions  may  be  deemed  appropriate. 

I.  Y^ou  may  be  embarrassed,  as  many  are,  by  the  comparative  claims  of 
the  work  abroad  and  the  work  at  home. 

It  is  the  belief  of  the  Committee  that  no  Congregational  minister  who 
is  true  to  his  office  can  lightly  esteem  the  latter.  This  wide  domain  of 
ours,  with  its  firm  grasp  upon  the  grea.t  sea  of  the  east,  and  the  greater 
sea  of  the  west;  with  its  immense  resources;  with  its  fast  increasing  mil¬ 
lions-;  with  an  interblending  of  races,  creeds,  sympathies,  hopes,  aspira¬ 
tions,  as  strange  as  it  is  portentous;  Romanism  and  skepticism  —  either  of 
them  among  the  mightiest  forces  of  the  age  —  stubbornly  arrayed  against 
evangelical  truth  ;  surely  it  is  not  difficult  to  foresee  the  vast  possibilities 
of  good  and  evil  which  a  single  century  may  evolve.  And  should  the  evil 
gain  the  mastery,  it  would  be  as  if  Saturn  or  Jupiter  were  to  leap  from  his 
orbit,  and  roam  at  will  among  his  brother  planets. 

But  the  argument  for  the  home  work  is  so  strong  as  to  be  in  some  degree 
a  source  of  danger.  That  which  is  near,  soonest  fills  the  eye.  Family 
wants  make  a  strong  appeal,  as  they  should.  Church  wants  and  parish 
wants  take  the  second  place.  The  claims  of  neighborhood,  the  state,  the 
country,  follow  in  due  order.  Constai\t  familiarity  with  these,  deepens  the 
feeling  of  their  urgency.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  so  many  mission 
churches  are  slow  to  relinquish  their  hold  upon  the  hand  which  has  helped 
them.  In  every  missionary  field  to-day,  at  home  and  abroad,  there  is  the 
same  desire  for  continued  aid. 

But  He  who  is  able  to  check  every  tendency,  however  subtle,  and  avert 
every  peril,  however  stealthy,  has  provided  just  the  safeguards  which  are 
needed.  Objects  which  are  near,  he  balances  with  others  which,  though 
distant,  are  larger.  From  the  home  field  which  pleads  so  eloquently,  he 
bids  us  look  away  to  fields  which  are  broader,  needier,  sadder.  The  Com¬ 
mittee  do  not  suggest  any  comparison  between  the  two  great  departments 
of  Christian  effort.  Indeed,  they  regard  them  in  fact  as  so  thoroughly 
interdependent  that  if  one  suffers,  the  other  must  suffer  also.  For  the 
relief,  however,  of  those  who  may  differ  from  them,  and  to  illustrate  the 
self-adjusting  harmonies  of  Christian  beneficence,  they  beg  leave  to  say, 
that  “  a  generous  support  of  the  work  abroad  helps  the  work  at  home”  In 
proof  of  this  the  Committee  adduce  the  following  considerations  :  — 

1.  Foreign  missions  have  taught  our  churches  the  safety  of  large  undertak¬ 
ings.  Individuals,  churches,  communities,  nations,  are  ignorant  at  times  of 
their  own  resources.  We  of  the  North  had  not  the  faintest  conception  of 
what  we  could  do,  when  the  fiery  storm  of  1861  burst  upon  us.  And  so  it 
has  been  all  along  the  history  of  missions.  The  doctrine  preached  at  Not¬ 
tingham  in  1792,  “  expect  great  things  from  God,  attempt  great  things  for 


6 


MISSIONARY  CONS]j:CRATION  OF  PASTORS. 

God,”  has  been  constantly  verified  from  that  day  to  this.  Who  would 
have  ventured  to  prophesy  all  that  Carey,  the  journeyman  shoemaker,  the 
village  schoolmaster,  the  humble  preacher,  accomplished  for  India.  When 
the  vote  was  passed  at  Bradford  which  called  the  Board  into  life,  did  any 
one  look  down  the  vista  which  then  opened  before  him,  and  foresee  all  that 
has  since  come  to  pass?  When  our  fathers,  in  the  winter  of  1811-12,  with 
only  $1200  in  hand,  voted  to  send  five  missionaries  to  Hindostan,  who 
could  have  believed,  in  that  day  of  small  things,  that  $6,000  would  be 
placed* at  their  disposal  in  three  weeks?  The  value  of  these  incidents, 
and  others  like  them,  was  beyond  all  price.  They  revealed  a  strength  of 
faithj  courage,  enterprise,  as  stimulating  as  it  was  unlooked  for.  How 
many  endeavors  of  the  highest  moment  might  be  traced  thereto  ?  What 
harvests  have  been  gathered  at  the  West,  year  after  year,  from  the  seed 
which  was  cast  upon  the  waters  at  that  early  epoch ! 

2.  Foreign  missions  have  done  much  for  doctrinal  purity.  The  service 
which  the  Board  rendered,  even  in  its  infancy,  can  hardly  be  prized  too 
highly.  Its  founders  held  the  Puritan  faith  with  a  confidence  in  its  truth, 
fully  matched  by  their  confidence  in  its  efficacy.  What  Paul  had  said  of 
the  heathen  in  his  day,  they  believed  to  be  true  of  the  heathen  in  their 
day.  What  he  said  of  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  they  believed  could  be 
realized  again.  They  laid  their  foundations,  therefore,  in  a  spirit  that  was 
thoroughly  Pauline.  The  first  missionaries,  for  the  most  part,  were  trained 
in  Andover  Seminary,  which  began  its  work  just  in  time  to  take  its  place 
as  a  true  yokefellow.  No  men  have  been  truer  to  the  traditions  of  New 
England.  After  they  commenced  their  labors,  their  testimony  came  back 
to  us  as  clear  as  it  was  strong.  They  were  filled  with  humiliation  and 
awe,  as  they  beheld  the  depravity  which  on  every  side  of  them  was  so 
appalling.  But  they  had,  as  they  well  knew,  an  infinite  Saviour  to  sustain 
them,  as  also  an  infinite  Saviour  to  urge  upon  the  heathen.  The  influence 
which  they  sent  back,  therefore,  was  large  and  helpful, —  (1)  in  confirming 
the  churches  in  the  faith  which  they  had  received  from  the  past ;  (2)  in 
showing  the  supreme  value  of  the  essentials  of  Christianity,  as  compared 
with  its  non-essentials  ;  (3)  in  proving  the  adaptation  of  scriptural  truth,  if 
presented  simply  and  lovingly,  to  lost  men  the  world  over. 

The  Committee  crave  the  privilege  of  saying  that  they  have  endeavored 
to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  fathers.  It  has  been  their  aim  to  send 
forth  laborers  who  should  be  worthy  to  receive  the  mantles  which  the  elder 
prophets,  sooner  or  later,  must  needs  leave  to  the  younger.  And  they 
desire  to  record  their  devout  thankfulness  for  the  good  hand  of  their  God 
upon  them.  As  they  turn  to  the  different  mission  fields,  and  behold  ven¬ 
erable  forms  coming  out  from  the  shadows  of  the  past,  —  a  long  proces- 
■  sion,  —  they  cannot  but  congratulate  the  Board,  not  merely  because  of  the 
work  which  has  been  done,  but  because  of  the  workers. 

3.  The  educational  value  of  the  foreign  service  is  much  greater  than  most 
have  supposed.  Could  we  gain  access  to  the  annals  of  our  Congregational 
households,  we  should  find  that  to  many  of  them  missions  have  proved  a 
constant  benediction.  The  departure  of  the  two  earliest  detachments,  in 
circumstances  which  clothed  the  act  with  all  the  interest  of  novelty. 


MISSIONAKY  CONSECRATION  OF  PASTORS. 


•  7 

romance,  and  Christian  heroism,  carried  to  our  fire-sides  an  inspiration  as 
generous  as  it  was  elevating.  The  ends  of  the  earth  had  never  seemed  so 
near  ;  redemption  had  never  seemed  so  vast ;  humanity,  even  in  its  lowest 
depths,  had  never  seemed  so  precious ;  sacrifice  for  the  unknown  and  un- 
deservino;  had  never  seemed  so  noble. 

The  disappointments  at  Calcutta,  as -unexpected  as  they  were  strange, 
the  death  of  Harriet  Newell,  deepened  the  interest.  And  when  the  history 
of  that  life,  so  brief  and  yet  so  fragrant,  was  given  to  the  world,  it  cast  a 
spell  upon  the  old  and  the  young,  which  abides  with  many  to  this  day. 

And  what  a  flood  of  light  has  been  shed  upon  questions  of  race,  lan¬ 
guage,  topography,  history  !  How  many  problems  that  once  were  ac- 
eounted  intricate  and  bewildering,  are  made  clear  to-day !  That  stum¬ 
bling-block  and  rock  of  offense  on  the  Bosphorus,  in  the  eye  of  all  Europe, 
—  what  a  pivot  it  has  been  for  the  grandest  events  in  the  past;  and  what 
a  pivot  it  may  prove  for  like  events,  or  grander  still,  in  the  future  ! 

The  letters  of  the  missionaries  to  the  churches  at  home,  and  their  words 
from  time  to  time,  during  their  needful  furloughs  —  how  instructive  and 
how  quickening  they  have  been  !  At  the  college,  the  seminary,  before  the 
great  congregation,  or  wherever  they  have  spoken,  how  much  have  they 
done  to  inform  the  mind  and  enlartje  the  heart ! 

4.  Foreicjn  missions  have  taught  our  churches  the  highest  form  of  benevo¬ 
lence.  It  is  not  the  quantity  of  giving  so  much  as  its  quality  that  deter¬ 
mines  its  value.  The  costliest  offering  may  shrivel  to  nothing  beneath  the 
All-searching  eye;  while  that  of  the  poor  widow  may  become  a  memorial 
forever.  Men  may  devise  liberal  things  for  the  west,  from  the  impulse  of 
patriotism ;  they  may  devise  liberal  things  for  the  east,  from  the  impulse 
of  public  spirit.  We  call  such  deeds  praiseworthy,  as  they  are;  and  yet 
the  motive,  confessedly,  is  not  the  purest  and  best. 

But  when  a  man  gives  of  his  substance  because  of  his  Saviour’s  last 
command,  or  from  a  desire  to  see  the  Pacific  Islander,  though  repulsive 
exceedingly,  the  pariah  of  India,  the  Bushman  of  Africa,  transformed  into 
the  likeness  of  Christ,  he  ascends  to  the  highest  plane  of  earthly  benevo¬ 
lence.  He  expects  no  return,  save  that  which  may  accrue  from  the  grate¬ 
ful  intercessions  of  his  unknown  beneficiaries.  Never  in  this  life  will  his 
eye  rest  upon  the  fruit  of  his  self-denial.  The  giver  and  receiver  will 
never  meet  till  the  hour,  when,  in  the  hush  of  their  transcendent  joy,  they 
shall  look  for  the  first  time  upon  their  eommon  Judge  and  their  common 
Saviour. 

Such  offerings  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly ;  they  are  all  written  in 
the  book  of  remembrance,  against  the  final  Apocalypse.  They  verify  that 
saying,  as  true  as  it  is  eomprehensive  and  profound,  “  It  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive,”  —  not  as  but  more.,  —  “  more  blessed  ”  because 
of  the  manifoldness  of  the  good  which  proceeds  therefrom,  like  the  out¬ 
spreading  circles  on  a  quiet  lake. 

The  Committee  are  obliged  to  arrest  the  argument  at  this  point  for  lack 
of  time.  They  will  only  add  that  they  regard  the  missionaries  abroad  as 
supplementing,  practically,  the  labors  of  the  missionaries  at  home  ;  and 
they  regard  the  Board  as  having  been,  for  fifty  years,  a  most  helpful  aux¬ 
iliary  to  our  national  Home  Missionary  Society. 


8 


MISSIONARY  CONSECRATION  OF  PASTORS. 


IL  Another  problem,  more  directly  practical,  you  will  submit  to  us  in 
this  wise,  perhaps  :  “  Assuming  that  we  are  anxious  to  discharge  our 
whole  duty,  what  course  shall  we  pursue?”  The  first  step,  as  also  the 
most  important,  will  be  to  convince  your  people  that  you  take  a  profound 
and  abiding  interest  in  missions.  If  you  are  conscious  of  possessing  that 
interest,  but  feel  that  you  might  have  done  more  to  prove  it,  go  to  them 
without  delay,  as  “  the  man  whose  eyes  are  open.”  Speak  to  them  as  one 
who  has  been  admitted,  in  some  sort,  to  the  secret  of  that  soul-travail, 
which  is  to  be  followed  by  such  amazing,  such  endless  issues.  Speak  to 
them  as  one  who  has  caught  some  foreglimpses  of  the  grandeur  of  that 
kingdom,  which  is  slowly  but  surely  infolding  all  other  kingdoms.  Y'our 
words  will  carry  a  benediction  to  them  not  only  ;  they  will  take  back  a 
larger  benediction  to  yourself. 

The  Committee  attach  special  importance  to  this  initial  step.  And  they 
are  persuaded  that  there  is  in  the  Congregational  pastorate  much  more  of 
susceptibility  in  this  regard  than  the  churches  have  supposed.  They  are 
confident  that  if  all  should  set  forth,  on  a  predetermined  Sabbath,  their 
convictions,  desires,  and  hopes,  in  their  full  strength,  the  revelation  would 
prove  a  grateful  surprise  to  all. 

1.  In  speaking  of  measures,  the  Committee  place  in  the  foreground  ivell- 
laid  plans  for  imparting  information.  Of  this,  if  report  speaks  truly,  there 
is  a  serious  lack. 

The  value  of  the  pulpit  in  this  endeavor  must  be  obvious  to  all.  And  it 
so  happens  that  there  are  no  better  themes  for  sermons,  anywhere,  than 
those  which  are  found  in  the  domain  of  missions.  Some  have  made  the 
discovery  by  actual  experiment,  having  preached  thereon,  with  special 
frequency,  to  the  acknowledged  profit  and  satisfaction  of  their  congrega¬ 
tions.  They  have  supposed  it  to  he  their  duty  to  hold  up  redemption,  not 
merely  as  a  doctrine  for  civilized  lands,  but  as  a  central  and  vital  truth  for 
the  world.  They  have  felt  burdened  by  the  conviction  that  if  Christ  has 
died  for  all,  then  he  should  be  preached  to  all.  The  Committee  venture 
to  suggest  that  if  any  pastor  will  form  a  plan  for  a  series  of  discourses,  to 
be  delivered  at  fitting  times,  and  will  enrich  them  with  fact,  argument, 
appeal,  such  as  the  Bible,  the  history  of  man,  and  especially  the  history  of 
missions,  will  furnish,  he  will  find  at  the  end  of  a  few  years  that  the  profit 
thereof,  as  well  to  himself,  as  to  his  hearers,  has  greatly  exceeded  his  ex¬ 
pectations. 

The  best  agency,  however,  for  diffusing  information  is  the  monthly  con¬ 
cert.  The  Committee  are  aware  of  the  perplexities  which  beset  this  meet¬ 
ing,  but  they  do  not  propose  to  discuss  them  at  the  present  time.  They 
must  be  allowed  to  express  their  surprise,  however,  that  the  difficulty  of 
finding  themes  of  sufficient  attractiveness  is  made  so  prominent.  With 
such  fields  as  Turkey,  India,  China,  Japan  before  him,  and  with  all  the 
annals  of  the  past  at  his  command,  how  can  any  pastor  think  himself  strait¬ 
ened  for  materials  ? 

Take  that  topic  which  has  so  deeply  interested  the  Christian  world  of 
late,  the  ever-recurring  Eastern  Question.  Suppose  one  of  your  number 
to  have  begun,  years  ago,  to  ground  his  people  thoroughly  in  Oriental 


MISSIONARY  CONSECRATION  OF  PASTORS. 


9 


missions,  lie  has  told  them  of  the  growth  of  that  power  which  came  out 
from  the  East,  far  back  in  the  past;  established  itself  first  at  Broosa,  then 
at  Adrianople;  and  from  that  point  swept  like  a  storm  of  fire  across  the 
entire  region  which,  in  the  last  few  weeks,  has  been  the  scene  of  such 
fierce  conflicts,  such  bitter  hates,  such  terrible  cruelties,  —  and  onward  still, 
even  to  the  gates  of  Vienna.  He  has  told  them  of  the  conquest  of  Con¬ 
stantinople  ;  how  that  ancient  city  succumbed  to  its  invaders,  not  because 
of  their  prowess,  but  because  of  the  jealousies,  dissensions,  perverseness, 
and  cowardice  of  the  Christians,  so  called,  who  professed  to  defend  it,  and 
so  an  entrance  to  that  land  which  has  been  so  dear  to  the  church  in  all 
ages,  was  made  possible  for  American  missionaries,  —  an  entrance  which 
the  Greek  empire,  intolerant,  effete,  worthless,  would  never  have  conceded. 
He  has  told  you  of  the  wonderful  changes  which  have  been  -wrought  there 
in  these  later  years,  so  silent  that  few  have  suspected  their  importance, 
and  yet  so  real  and  mighty  that  they  must  needs  take  their  place  among 
the  acknowledged  factors  in  some  of  the  grandest  problems  of  our  race. 
Having  made  his  people  familiar  with  this  large  segment  of  history,  how 
easy  for  him  to  speak  of  the  causes,  remote  and  proximate,  of  the  existing 
war,  the  strange  complications  growing  out  of  diversities  of  ancestry,  re¬ 
ligion,  historic  affinities  and  repellences,  above  all  of  w'estern  diplomacy ; 
and  how  easy  to  point  to  that  unseen  Hand,  unrecognized  for  the  most 
part  by  the  actors  in  this  momentous  drama,  which  directs  all  events  for 
the  honor  of  the  only  begotten  Son  ! 

2.  The  question  of  ingatherings  remains  to  be  considered.  The  Com¬ 
mittee  are  obliged  to  confess  that  it  is  always  with  blended  feelings  that 
their  thoughts  turn  to  this  subject.  The  steadfastness  and  large-hearted¬ 
ness  with  which  many  contribute  to  the  work  of  the  Board,  year  after  year, 
fill  them  with  thankfulness  and  admiration.  But  the  meagreness  of  the 
offerings  Avhich  come  from  quarters  whence  they  have  hoped  for  better 
things,  and  the  large  number  of  those  who  give  nothing  at  all,  affect  them 
not  less  profoundly  than  sadly.  They  cannot  avoid  the  conviction  that 
every  church  member,  by  the  mere  fact  of  his  discipleship,  is  committed  to 
the  missionary  service.  He  who  enters  into  cove'nant  with  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  in  the  customary  form,  and  yet  refuses  to  do  anything  for  the 
heathen,  they  are  constrained  to  think,  keeps  back  part  of  the  price. 

Most  of  our  membership  recognize  the  duty  of  commemorating  the  death 
of  Christ  at  the  times  duly  appointed  therefor.  The  words,  “  This  do  in 
remembrance  of  me,”  are  accepted  as  clear  and  imperative.  The  frequent 
neglect  of  this  ordinance  is  followed  by  remonstrance,  if  not  by  discipline. 
How,  then,  has  it  come  to  pass  that  the  other  command,  announced  with 
such  unequaled  solemnity ;  that  command  which  is  the  expression  of  an 
infinite  longing  for  the  redemption  of  man;  —  how  has  it  come  to  pass  that 
that  command  is  broken  so  grievously,  so  constantly,  and  yet,  seemingly, 
with  the  connivance  of  our  churches! 

The  first  duty  of  pastors,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Committee,  is  to  secure 
a  contribution  from  every  communicant,  if  practicable,  and  also  from  every 
non-communicant,  if  practicable,  in  the  belief  that  the  injunction,  “Let 
him  that  heareth  say  come,”  is  unconditional,  and  hence  that  a  refusal  to 


10 


MISSIONARY  CONSECRATION  OF  PASTORS. 


accept  the  offer  of  pardon  by  no  means  justifies  a  refusal  to  make  known 
that  offer  to  those  who  have  never  heard  it. 

The  second  duty  is  to  persuade  all,  if  possible,  to  give  as  the  Lord  hath 
prospered  them.  In  order  to  success  herein,  frequent,  patient,  faithful  in¬ 
struction  will  be  found  indispensable.  Habits  of  giving  are  not  easily 
chano-ed.  Habits  of  withholding  are  more  inveterate  still. 

The  third  duty  is  to  select  the  best  plan  for  taking  collections.  As  the 
object  is  to  induce  all  to  give  as  the  Lord  hath  prospered  them,  the  inquiry 
will  be,  “  Which  method,  this  or  that,  will  meet  the  conditions  of  the  prob¬ 
lem  ?  ”  It  is  but  a  step  to  the  conclusion,  “  Boxes,  as  they  are  generally 
used,  do  not  meet  these  conditions.”  On  the  other  hand,  the  visits  of 
collectors,  cheerfully  and  conscientiously  made  to  every  household,  have 
been  very  effective.  Weekly  offerings,  especially  when  raised  to  the  dig¬ 
nity  of  Christian  worship,  have  been  attended  with  admirable  results.  But 
the  impression  cannot  be  too  deeply  lodged  in  the  minds  of  all,  that  no 
system  is  self-executive.  In  order  to  a  proper  outcome  from  any  plan,  there 
needs  to  be  a  steady  hand  behind  it. 

It  will  be  said,  perhaps,  that  there  is  one  serious  objection  to  the  fore¬ 
going  suggestions,  to  wit,  that  they  impose  additional  labor  upon  pastors. 
The  Committee  are  obliged  to  concede  the  truth  of  this  allegation.  But 
(1)  the  world  can  never  be  saved  without  a  large  amount  of  toil  and  self- 
denial.  The  life  of  Christ  was  a  constant  sacrifice.  He  came  not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister;  and  surely  the  disciple  is  not  above  his 
Master.  (2.)  Whatever  additional  service  may  be  needed,  no  part  thereof, 
not  the  smallest,  will  fail  of  its  reward.  He  who  uttered  those  words,  — 
just  as  the  heavens  were  opening  to  receive  him,  —  that  were  to  be  the 
culminating  proof  of  his  infinite  compassion  for  man,  however  sinful,  will 
say  of  those  who  long  for  the  triumph  of  his  Word,  with  no  bated  stress, 
“  Him  that  honoreth  me,  I  will  honor.” 

When  the  Board  met  in  this  city  twenty-two  years  ago,  there  sat  with 
us  many  pastors,  —  Porter,  Hawes,  Dwight,  Linsley,  and  others  like  them, 
—  who  have  since  been  summoned  to  the  presence  of  the  Great  King.  Sup¬ 
pose  that  from  their  celestial  homes  they  were  to  speak  to  their  brethren 
who  are  here  to-day.  Might  they  not  say,  “  Were  you  to  stand  for  the 
briefest  space  where  we  stand,  there  would  be  no  thought  of  toil,  self- 
denial,  sacrifice,  but  rather,  and  only,  of  privilege,  honor,  intense  delight. 
Here,  on  the  one  hand,  are  myriads  upon  myriads  who  have  come  up  from 
all  the  ‘  habitations  of  cruelty.’  There,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  Lord 
that  bought  them.  These,  once  so  low,  now  so  high!  See  with  what  radi- 
ancy  of  love  they  turn  to  the  Crucified  One  I  He,  —  but  who  can  sound 
the  depths  of  his  joy?  He  sees  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  is  satisfied! 
Surely,  with  such  a  spectacle  before  you,  calling  to  mind  the  power  which 
you  can  wield  for  the  uplifting  of  the  heathen,  you  will  exclaim  with  pas¬ 
sionate  emphasis,  ‘  Unto  me  who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints  is  this 
grace  given  that  I  should  preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ.’  ” 


